In Cry Wolf, New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs started a new urban fantasy series set in the world of Mercy Thompson -- but with rules of its own. Now, read "Alpha and Omega," the novella that inspired the new series, and see how it all began.

Anna Latham never knew werewolves existed, until the night she survived a violent attack... and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the Chicago pack, she's learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But when she discovers wrongdoing in her pack, she has to go above her Alpha's head to ask for help.

Charles Cornick is the son -- and enforcer -- of the leader of the North American werewolves. Now his father has sent him to Chicago to clean up a problem there. Charles never expected to find Anna, a rare Omega wolf -- and he certainly never expected to recognize her as his mate.

MY REVIEW:

This novella was originally part of the ‘On the Prowl’
anthology. It is essential to read this first, as it sets out the major players
in the series. It is my understanding that those who have read Briggs’ Mercy
Thompson series will already be familiar with the characters and world,
although I haven’t read that yet.

Anna Latham was changed into a werewolf against her will three
years ago. She is considered a “submissive” werewolf, which means she is at the
bottom of the pack and is routinely used, abused, and beaten by her pack-mates.
The Alpha of the pack, Leo, often “gave” her as a reward to the other males in
the pack when they did something to please him. Leo’s mate, Isabelle, finally
put a stop to it when she saw that Anna had been cutting herself with a silver
knife. Anna would have killed herself if Isabelle didn’t intervene. Some of the
older and stronger males in the pack have been killed off, presumably ordered by
Leo who wanted to get rid of anyone who could challenge his authority, as well
as all the other females except for Anna. Leo’s pack is one of two in the
Chicago area, and they apparently don’t get along.

Anna sees a picture of a teenage boy in a newspaper article,
who disappeared with his date after a high school dance. Her body was found
mauled by animals, but his body never turned up. She recognizes the boy in the
photo as one that she had seen in a cage that houses new wolves at Leo’s house,
and she is concerned because she believes that Leo ordered the attack. Anna
knows that her pack has serious issues within its ranks, and she feels driven
to do something about it. She calls the Marrok in Montana, who is the leader of
all the wolves in the North American region, and tells him of her suspicions.
She is surprised to learn that he is already aware of Chicago’s problems and
has sent his son, Charles, to deal with it. The Marrok, Bran, asks Anna to meet
Charles at the airport.

Charles Cornick isn’t just the Marrok’s son; he is also the
Enforcer or Assassin who acts on his father’s behalf to settle problems among
werewolves and take care of (read:kill) those that need to be dealt with. His
mere presence instills fear and awe in those around him, wolf and human alike,
because of his dominant Alpha nature. His inner wolf immediately bonds with
Anna and chooses her as his mate. This takes Charles by surprise, as he had all
but given up finding a mate after being alone for over 200 years. When he
realizes how Anna has been abused, he can barely control his rage and anger.
Anna isn’t just any werewolf, and she is not a submissive. She is an Omega, a
rare werewolf to be treasured. She cannot be controlled by the Alpha, which is
why she was able to summon the Marrok in the first place. Leo obviously knew
what she was and that is why he had to beat her down. He tried to control her
by breaking her, but Anna didn’t quite break. As an Omega, her gift is to bring
peace and a sense of calm to the pack and those around her. Anna is stunned
because there is so much that she does not know about being a werewolf, and she
had never even heard of an Omega!

Charles has also inherited a few gifts of his own. Although
his father, Bran, is a Welshman, his mother was Salish. When she became
pregnant after the Change, her father who possessed magical abilities helped
her to stay human so that she could carry the baby to full-term. Charles’
mother did not survive childbirth because she was so weak from resisting the
Change each month with the full moon. Charles was born a werewolf; he was not
Changed. This has given him a few extra magical talents, such as having the
ability to Change quickly.

Charles is determined to deal with Leo and his pack-mates
for the atrocities perpetrated against Anna. It normally happens that the human
chooses a mate, and the inner wolf follows. For Charles, it happened backwards.
If he had his way, he would have taken things slowly to woo Anna and to not
scare her off by his intensity. However, Anna is reading him all wrong and he
needs to let her know just how badly he wants her and to prove his loyalty to
her.

Charles to Anna: “If you had let
me,” he said, “I’d have courted you gently and won your heart.” He closed his
eyes. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Briggs is a new-to-me author, and I was immediately drawn
into her world. Anna is a survivor, and you cannot help but feel for what she
has gone through. Her strength has enabled her to adapt and to survive against
the odds, especially since she has been given so little information about
werewolf customs and history. Most of what she has been told has been
inaccurate. And who wouldn’t fall for Charles? He is fiercely protective of
Anna, which I love! He is a little bit thrown by his feelings for Anna, and he
grapples with these new emotions. I love Anna’s cheekiness and how she likes to
show Charles a little defiance, which sounds like something that he is not used
to!! I wouldn’t expect her to have so much sass, not after all the abuse she
has suffered, so it is a credit to her character. It was nice to see their
relationship develop, but it also frustrated me because they frequently failed
to read each other correctly which created a lot of angst!

I do not normally choose to read novellas but, in this case,
it is a necessary part of the series. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it
and how I was quickly taken into the story despite its brevity. I have my iPod
already loaded up with the next three audiobooks in the series! I am already
hooked!! I enjoyed it so much that I have created another reading challenge: 2012 Patricia Briggs Werewolf Challenge!

MY RATING:

4 stars!! It was really good, and I expect that the series is going to get
even better as more of the story unfolds! You should put it on your TBR list!